1. Technical Field
This present application relates to an apparatus for the filling of bags having at least one opening therein and having space to permit decreased accumulation of filling materials.
2. Background Information
Background information is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily admit that subsequently mentioned information and publications are prior art.
The bags or hose-like objects are conventionally formed objects that have at least one opening. Through this opening, grippers can be introduced into the hose-like object and brought into contact with, for example, the vertical edges of the object to fix it in position and transport it along the movement path. Of course other possibilities of transport are conceivable and are included in the teaching of the present application. Likewise, the present application is naturally not limited to the treatment of bags.
If bags are being processed, they have generally originated from material in the form of a flat sleeve, and are provided with the respective bag bottom by thermal sealing, ultrasound, gluing or similar processes. These flat sleeves can, for example coming off a roll, be separated by means of a respective separation step and are delivered to the processing device individually or in groups for purposes of additional processing. It goes without saying that it is also possible, within the teaching of the present application, to process prefabricated bags.
“Processing” within the meaning of this present application means all or most of the processes that modify the bag or the object and/or the product in it. Processing includes not only the simple filling of the bag in question, but also the installation of spouts, adapters and valves, as well as the additional shaping and contouring of the bag. Processing also includes the application of labels, hangars and hooks or slides. Finally, it also includes processes such as the internal or external gas-flashing of the bags with inert gas, their sterilization and optionally a vacuum cleaning.
It is frequently assumed that the bags, in the case which is described by way of example, are acted upon over at least a section of the processing device so that the equipment necessary or desired for the processing acts on the bags from below. In some systems, although the processing units are located above the movement path of the bags, the conveyors or guide tracks with which the bags are moved on their movement path through the machine or apparatus, i.e. functional components of these conveyors or guide tracks are located below the bags and possibly also below their filling openings. Among these systems, there are also systems in which the frameworks that support the conveyors or guide tracks are realized in the form of bridges, as a result of which then at least parts of these bridges are also located below the movement path of the bags.
During the operation of the apparatus, in spite of the exercise of the most extreme caution, it can happen that the product being packaged is splashed, spilled of simply dumped outside the bag. These spills are also unpleasant when the products in question are liquids, which can also still be sticky. As a result of such spills, intensive cleaning work has to be or should be performed. Such spills can also have an adverse effect on the operation of the apparatus. They also increase costs, which is one of the disadvantages this present application is designed to overcome.
The technical problem on which the present application is based is to develop an apparatus of this type for the treatment of flexible, hose-like objects, for example bags, so that contamination is reduced to a minimum and the overall operation of the apparatus is improved.